What better way to commemorate the end of summer than to spend the cooling nights in the Goldsmith, cozying up to a nice warm thirty-five millimeter print? Thanks to distributors, archives, and our projectionist Peter McMorris, the Wesleyan Film Series is proud to show movies the way they were first screened, and this month we’ve been lucky enough to snag a good number of classics in their original format. This week alone, experience “Eraserhead” and “Divorce Italian Style” in all their celluloid glory, but also be sure to check out “Wild Tales” and “Inside Out,” which are equally beautiful thanks to a newly acquired Digital Cinema projector. Along with the start of autumn, this week marks the beginning of the four-week Hispanic Film Series, a collection of recent diverse and powerful Latin American and Spanish films, shown free of charge on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
“Eraserhead”
1977. USA. Dir. David Lynch. With Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart. 89 min.
Wednesday, September 23. 8pm. $5.
Future “Twin Peaks” regular Jack Nance stars as shock-haired Henry Spencer, a man living in a nightmarish factory town who learns that his girlfriend Mary X (Stewart) has given birth to a son that he must now help raise. What sounds like your average sci-fi domestic drama expands into a surreal and visually hypnotic exploration of Spencer’s thoughts and fears, including planet-sized spermatozoa and a radiator-dwelling chanteuse. Painstakingly filmed over four years during the director’s time at the American Film Institute, Lynch’s feature debut is an utterly original work that redefined cinema in order to express the filmmaker’s personal vision. Starkly beautiful and unnerving in its exploration of mental and bodily horror, “Eraserhead” changed the landscape of independent cinema and won the praise of a diverse assortment of filmmakers, from John Waters and Mel Brooks to Stanley Kubrick.
“Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes)”
2014. Argentina/Spain. Dir: Damián Szifron. With Ricardo Darin. 122 min.
Thursday, September 24. 8pm. Free.
“Wild Tales” is the energetic start to our four-week Hispanic Film Series. Here, a wrathful pilot, a cruel chef, and an indignant bride are but a few of the venomous souls drive to madness in this anthology film of violence and vengeance. Written entirely in the director’s bathtub, “Wild Tales” is the most-seen Argentine film of all time — a crowd-pleasing stunner that received an alleged ten-minute standing ovation at Cannes.
“Inside Out”
2015. USA. Dir. Pete Docter. With Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith. 94 min.
Friday, September 25. 8pm. $5.
Need a refresher on how the human mind works? Drop that psych textbook and take a trip to the Goldsmith this Friday for “Inside Out.” When eleven-year-old Riley moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, her five fundamental emotions (including Poehler as Joy and Smith as Sadness) work to maintain healthy conditions inside the young girl’s head. A touching family drama meets an inventive depiction of the human thought process as Riley’s experiences at school and at home complicate Joy’s fight to restore emotional order to the metropolis within her head. Pixar returns to charming form in this film, which is packed to the brim with memorable characters and innovative visual spectacles that will change the way you think about the way you think.
“Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio All’Italiana)”
1961. Italy. Dir: Pietro Germi. With Marcello Mastroianni. 105 min.
Saturday, September 26. 8pm. Free.
In this send-up of Sicilian machismo, a hard-up patrician is facing midlife crisis daydreams of converting his irksomely doting wife into soap, tossing her into quicksand, and rocketing her off the planet. Divorce is bluntly illegal, but who knew that bumping off his spouse would actually be the more sensible recourse? The film hosts a standout performance by international film star Marcello Mastroianni, and we get to see it in a beautiful 35mm print thanks to the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.